Kicking Ass in Iraq

President Bush says we’re “kicking ass” in Iraq. He said this to the Deputy Prime Minister of Austria — that is, Australia. It was a dumb thing to say for a number of reasons, so many reasons they have to be enumerated separately. Here goes:

1) It’s not true.

2) Who’s ass are we supposedly kicking? Iraqi ass? Insurgent ass? Al Qaeda ass? And is this what we went into Iraq for, to kick ass?

And how do you say, after four and a half years, that you’re kicking ass, when it took the Allies a year less than that to kick Hitler and Hirohito’s ass at the same time? And isn’t the phrase “kicking ass” when you’re fighting an insurgency, a little bit misplaced?

3) What is the president of the United States doing, showing such a disregard for human life, that he could be using such an inappropriate colloqualism when talking about war to a senior official of an allied government?

4) What is the president of the United States doing talking to one of our allies as though he were a flunky? This isn’t Bush’s living room. This isn’t even the Oval Office. This was a state visit. Could he possibly be so deluded that he thinks the Deputy Prime Minister was impressed by his directness? Or does he actually relish the discomfort he creates, in presenting himself as a lout?

5) Finally, it’s not charming to be a regular guy until you’ve proven that you’re more than a regular guy. Lincoln’s common touch was charming, because the man was brilliant and he was good at his job. Reagan got away with his jokes, because he wasn’t an incompetent and a loser. When you’re doing a lousy job — when everything is crashing around you — when everything you’ve touched has turned to . . . well, I can’t be as colloquial as the president here, so let’s just say garbage — then going around talking like an average Joe just confirms to people that that’s all you are. It makes Bush look bad, and it makes all of us look bad by extension.